Legal/Homeschool Laws
Laws that regulate home education vary from state to state. It is important to understand the legal requirements in your state and to be aware of legislative and other legal issues that affect homeschoolers in your community. We've compiled resources that will help you become informed. Although homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, and the vast majority of homeschoolers face no problems, you may find that you need legal assistance at some point in your homeschooling career. We've compiled a list of resources to help you find the support you need. And if you'd like to become more involved in working towards homeschooling freedoms, we discuss some of the issues facing homeschoolers that we hope you find compelling.
State Laws
Read the laws regulating home education in Georgia and browse through the case law and legal opinions relating to those laws, along with government publications relating to homeschooling and summaries of the laws.
Forms
Which forms do you need to fill out? Where can you get them? Here is a list of useful forms for homeschooling in Georgia.
Legal Support
If you need legal information or have run into a legal situation regarding your decision to homeschool, these resources will be helpful.
Lobbying Groups
A listing of local and national lobbying groups and information on how you can become involved in the political process to ensure the freedom to homeschool is protected.
Attorneys
When searching for an attorney, it is helpful to know whether he or she has experience working with homeschoolers and is interested in protecting the right to homeschool.
Legal Issues
Is homeschooling legal? Which laws pertain to homeschoolers and which don't? How do homeschoolers protect their rights to freely educate their children and to preserve their privacy?
Government Resources
A listing of local and state government resources, including your state's Department of Education, school districts, and Senate and House of Representative information.
What's Popular
Past Attempts to Change GA Law
A short list of some of the legal issues homeschooling parents in Georgia have faced in the past.
Home Study Program Monthly Attendance Report - gif format
This is a Georgia Department of Education form, provided by HEIR. It is in gif format, but the quality is very poor.
Georgia Home School Laws from HSLDA
The Home School Legal Defense Association provides a brief summary of the homeschooling laws in Georgia. Includes a link to a legal analysis of laws relating to homeschooling in Georgia.
New Driver's Law Affects Home Study Programs
Two distinctly different sections of the Georgia code recently collided in an effort to link compulsory school attendance with driving privileges. Home study parents began receiving conflicting information from their counties last year. Fulton County sent out information which included an attendance form and instructions which assumed that the parent was the homestudy supervisor responsible for signing the attendance form and having it notarized. Dekalb County sent already filled out and notariz...
Just Who Is Accountable for My Child's Education? Or Accreditation Rears Its Ugly Head Again
At the recent Georgia Home Education Association (GHEA) conference, Dr. Starr Miller, a retired member of the Georgia Accrediting Commission (GAC) proposed a system by which home schools could receive some form of accreditation or certification. Centers for Independent Study would be set up to supervise home study. Along with approving curriculum, establishing a record of "clock" hours on independent study for each student, and setting standards for "passing" performance, these centers would als...
20-2-701. Reporting of Failure to Comply.
(a) Local school superintendents as applied to private schools and home study programs or visiting teachers and attendance officers as applied to public schools, after written notice to the parent or guardian of a child, shall report to the juvenile or other court having jurisdiction under Chapter 11 of Title 15 any child who is absent from a public or private school or a home study program in violation of this subpart. If the judge of the court places such child in a home or in a public or priv...
Home Study Program Declaration of Intent
This online form can be filed electronically with the Georgia Department of Education.
Declaration of Intent Letter
Your DOI with the 36 unique characters on the parental signature line is the official document of the Georgia Home Study Program. This document should be used to obtain Driver's license/permits, work permits, post-secondary admission, military enlistment, and for all other entities that require proof of educational enrollment. This letter can be accessed here.
Home Education Honored in Georgia
To declare the first week in February of each year as "Home Education Week" in Georgia, HB1450 was passed by the 1997-1998 General Assembly and signed by Governor Zel Miller on 4/20/98.
Declaration of Intent to Utilize a Home Study Program
Sample Declation of Intent. A Declaration of Intent must be submitted to your local school district within 30 days after the establishment of a home study program and by September 1 annually thereafter.
Georgia Department of Education
This is the official website for the Georgia Department of Education.
Declaration of Intent to Utilize a Home Study Program - Word format
This is a Georgia Department of Education form. It is in Word format. Provided by HEIR.
20-2-698. Children Found Away From Home
Any peace officer may assume temporary custody, during school hours, of any child subject to compulsory school attendance who is found away from home and who is absent from a public or private school or a home study program without a valid written excuse from school officials or from the parent or guardian in charge of the home study program.
Home Studay Programs: FAQ
Provided by the Georgia Department of Education, this is a list of questions and answers that parents usually ask about the homeschooling regulations in Georgia.
Attorney General Interprets Homeschool Law
In 1986, the Georgia Attorney General issued an opinion stating that local superintendents could "request" that homeschoolers provide documents related to their home study program, but had no legal basis to "require" the production of those documents.
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Featured Resources
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Free to Learn: Introducing Steiner Waldorf Earkt Childhood Education
Free to Learn is a unique guide to the principles and methods of Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood education. The author draws on kindergarten experience from around the world, with stories, helpful insights, lively observations and pictures. This insp...
They're Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate
For many people, their schooling was uncomfortable, tedious, and sometimes a waste of time and energy. This book offers the idea that the public school system is tragically flawed and that we are able to do better for our own children. Sam Sorbo, mom...
Black Books Galore's Guide to Great African American Children's Books
"This is a great resource that fills a tremendous need. It should be on parents' shelves at home as well as in every school." —Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. Harvard Medical School These are exciting times for African American children's literatu...
Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child
Understanding how children learn best allows you to meet their needs and help them succeed. A visual-spatial learner remembers things in pictures and learns better with visual clues and strategies. This book addresses those needs and helps you figure...
The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason believed that children need to be trained to see, to have their eyes opened, in order to find joy in life. This work explains the value of using the method of writing in journals or notebooks, as derived from the expansive work of Cha...